Microsoft to Name New Software Windows 8.1, and It’s Free

Tami Reller, co-head of Microsoft’s Windows division, offers some details Tuesday about the updated version of Windows 8.

Microsoft announced Tuesday the updated version of its Windows 8 operating system–which had been code-named Windows Blue–will be called Windows 8.1, and it will be available for free to encourage as many people as possible to take up the new software.

The software expected in coming months will effectively be a second launch of Windows 8, the operating system that debuted last October to great fanfare but fairly tepid sales. But the Windows 8.1 name underscores that Microsoft considers the revised software a relatively minor update and not a do-over, which would point to fundamental problems with the original product.

“It is an update, which is why it’s called Windows 8.1,” Reller said at the Boston conference, which was available via a Webcast.The operating system “just keeps getting better and better every day,” she said Monday.

Executives at Microsoft, PC makers and other allies have said Windows 8 hasn’t sparked a hoped-for sales surge for Windows-powered computers, tablets and new kinds of in-between devices called convertibles that could exploit its touch-based interface. Microsoft, PC makers and chip company Intel each is tinkering to make the software and Windows-powered hardware more appealing.

Microsoft executives have acknowledged missteps with Windows 8, and the company has said it is working hard to encourage hardware companies to offer more devices with touchscreens, which Microsoft and others say is a better experience than computers operated with a keyboard and mouse. Microsoft also is pushing changes to the retail-shopping experience, offering price breaks on software for smaller computer devices and pushing hard to convince more companies to write apps tailored for Windows 8.

Both Windows 8 and Windows RT–a variant designed to run with ARM Holdings chip designs used on iPads and Android-powered tablets–will get the Windows 8.1 update, Reller said. She said it’s important that people feel confident buying Windows computing devices now knowing fresh software is coming soon, even as Microsoft and PC makers have promised a wave of improved and new types of Windows-powered PCs and tablets later this year.

“We don’t want customers to hesitate in any way,” Reller said in the interivew.

Reller reiterated that a test version of Windows 8.1 will be released to the public in late June, as Microsoft hosts a major event for software developers. Windows 8.1 is slated to be rolled out before the holiday shopping season–in time for a planned wave of new touchscreen Windows computers that Microsoft and its allies hope will be more appealing than the current offerings.

Once Windows 8.1 is available, Reller said people who own Windows 8 computers would see a prompt to download the operating software update from the Windows app store.

In coming weeks, Microsoft also plans to discuss in detail technical changes to the software made in response to gripes from consumers and businesses, and changes to make it more usable on new types of computing devices such as the small tablet computers that have boomed in popularity.

Reller and other Microsoft executives have declined to discuss details of upcoming changes to the software. One focus of attention has been the two different modes of Windows 8. Computers powered by Windows 8 have both a traditional Windows “desktop” and a new style of screen with colorful tiles representing software apps. Some users have said it’s confusing to move between the two modes.

Microsoft’s public relations chief, Frank Shaw, wrote a blog post on Friday complaining about some press coverage last week that said Microsoft was capitulating to Windows 8 haters with the new software.

“When you have 1.3 billion using your product, you need to have vision and point of view,” Reller said in the conference, “But that doesn’t mean that you aren’t listening consistently and constantly.”

Ahead of the Windows 8.1 rollout, Microsoft has talked publicly about plans for technical tweaks to Windows 8 software to make it usable to power newer kinds of computing devices, including the small tablets that saw a sales boom late last year.

People familiar with the matter have said Microsoft is charging computers makers less money for software for such smaller devices, in order to make them competitive with prices of rivals Google’s 7-inch Nexus tablet has a starting price of $199, and Apple’s 7.9-inch iPad Mini starts at $329.

Note: This post has been updated to include Reller’s comments from the conference.